With Sharepod you can easily copy music from the computer to your iPod and viceversa. The program works like a charm: simply plug the iPod in, launch Sharepod and you’re good to go. It doesn’t even require installation! Besides adding or removing music, you can also copy videos from your iPod to the PC, back up photos, and edit tags. Sharepod also imports and exports album art, ratings and playlists.

The interface in Sharepod features a simple, clean design that makes the program a pleasure to use. It supports drag-and-drop, includes a search tool and also has a built-in player to listen to the music on your iPod.

On the downside, and though the developer claims Sharepod works with iPhone and iPod Touch, we couldn’t use all of the program’s features when testing with an iPhone 4.

Sharepod is a great iPod manager that lets you transfer content between Apple’s star device and your computer.

Download Sharepod 3.9.9 in Softonic

Aiseesoft iPod + iPhone PC Suite consists of two separate applications: iPod Transfer and iPhone Ringtone Maker. iPod Transfer allows you to manage what's on your iPod, iPod touch, or iPhone without the need to use iTunes (although you do still need to have it installed on your PC).

When you connect your device, the iPod Transfer app in Aiseesoft iPod + iPhone PC Suite shows you information about the model, capacity, OS, etc. You can view the audio and video that's stored on it by selecting the appropriate options, and even manage playlists.

There's a search tool that allows you to browse your device, showing you a list of the genres, artists and albums you have. Unfortunately, the search function doesn't actually let you type in a keyword to quickly find something.

Transferring files

In order to transfer files with Aiseesoft iPod + iPhone PC Suite you need to click the Import Files/Folders button and browse to the location on your hard drive. We noticed that iPod Transfer had problems finding recognizing some audio and video folders on our PC and the lack of drag and drop support makes this even more annoying.

We experienced some serious problems with the iPod Transfer tool in Aiseesoft iPod + iPhone PC Suite in terms of it recognizing our device. Testing with both a 2nd generation iPod touch and an iPhone 3GS, the application often had problems recognizing the devices. One minute it would be displaying the information and the next a prompt would appear saying that there is no device connected.

Making ringtones

On the plus side, the iPhone Ringtone Maker included with Aiseesoft iPod + iPhone PC Suite is very easy to use. It lets you grab an audio file from your computer and quickly turn it into a ringtone by selecting the in and out points.

Aiseesoft iPod + iPhone PC Suite is a far inferior alternative to iTunes. It might serve you well in an emergency but it's certainly no replacement for Apple's official iPod/iPhone desktop app.

Download Aiseesoft iPod + iPhone PC Suite 3.3.08 in Softonic

CopyTrans Manager is an excellent replacement for the sometimes slow iTunes. It lets you fully manage your iPod, just like the Apple tool: see the contents stored in the device, create playlists, add new music and videos, edit the file's tags – including album artwork... everything on a simpler, lighter application.

The program is compatible with the latest firmware version (3.0) and also with the iPhone 3G S. CopyTrans Manager includes a built-in player that you can use to play music and video files, though the video preview doesn't work with large files.

Although CopyTrans Manager is not as feature-rich as iTunes (for example, it doesn't display lyrics or recognize iPod apps), it's a perfect alternative for those of you who are looking for a faster, easier iPod manager.

If you don't like iTunes, CopyTrans Manager is a great tool to easily manage music and video in your iPod or iPhone.

Download CopyTrans Manager 0.977 in Softonic

There are plenty of programs that can do what iDevice Manager does, but none have come in one easy-to-use package. Applications like Sharepod and CopyTrans allow you to move music around, but iDevice Manager allows you to manage music, video, ringtones, and files. It even has a ringtone editor and can turn your iDevice into a flash drive to store your files.

The reason iDevice Manager requires a jailbreak is because it needs root access to your device for features like viewing and archiving email, SMS, and iMessages. iDevice Manager also allows you to get into the root filesystem. The program warns you that you can cause damage to your device if you don't know what you're doing so this feature is for more advanced users!

iDevice Manager even allows you to view and listen to movies and music from the app. Unfortunately it will not serve as a replacement for iTunes as it requires an installation of iTunes to function.

While iDevice Manager sounds like an amazingly powerful program, we found it buggy to use in practice. We were greeted constantly by an error message about .net framework failing and we had to restart the app.

Overall, iDevice Manager is an ambitious program but proves buggy in real world use.

Download iDevice Manager 1.9 in Softonic

If your iTunes library is a mess, full of badly labeled tracks, TuneUp is a great way to get your library organized again. Rewriting tags yourself can take forever, so let TuneUp do it for you instead.

Overview

TuneUp sits next to your iTunes window, and has four functions. First is 'Clean', which searches for possible fits to your mislabeled tracks, and then automatically changes the file's tag. You can also search for cover art in the same way. Drag any album missing artwork into the TuneUp box, and it will find suitable matches, then update your files. If you like the 'cover flow' feature on iTunes, this is a great way to make it look even better.

Features

The DeDuper feature searches out duplicate songs in your collection, which you can then remove. Finally there is the Tuniverse. TuneUp's Tuniverse allows you to share what you're playing on Facebook, tweet the song on Twitter, and see related YouTube videos and biographies from Freebase. There are even concert and event notifications via the StubHub service.

TuneUp allows you to clean 500 songs and find 50 album covers, so once you've used them up you'll have to subscribe to do more. The unlimited 'Now Playing' and 'Concerts' functions might be useful to you, and the YouTube videos are definitely a nice touch.

TuneUp is a nice idea. iTunes libraries can get really untidy, and it's good to have an automated cleaning system. The app sits neatly next to iTunes, and doesn't use significant system resources.

If you have lots of files in your iTunes library that need organizing, TuneUp is a great organizational option.

Download TuneUp Lite 2.4.6.4 in Softonic

Its name is Yamipod, an acronym that summarizes this program’s main function perfectly well: Yet Another Manager for iPod. That’s it. Without even needing to install it on your system, Yamipod will take care of your iPod content management, providing you with a clean interface and simple, easy-to-use tools.

Once you copy the program to your PC, you can run it straight away, although it won’t really work until you plug in your iPod. Yamipod will then scan its contents and list all your MP3 folders and files on its interface. Also, the program does not launch automatically when you connect the iPod to your PC, which may be a nuisance for some but certainly a relief for others. I prefer to take control over when and why my software starts up.

Yamipod’s simple interface displays a list with all the songs stored in the iPod and allows you to perform different managing tasks. For instance, you can browse through your music by artist or album, check the playlists you’ve created or view extended information about each song. You can even listen to music with the built-in player. However, we should note that we had some problems testing this as the player didn’t seem to work properly.

Perhaps the most interesting function is the possibility to copy both MP3 and AAC files to and from the iPod, which makes it very easy to update your music library. If you want to copy music to your PC from the iPod, select the songs and click on the “Copy song to...” option in the context menu. To copy them back to the iPod, just drag and drop the files from the Windows Explorer onto the program’s interface.

Finally, another very interesting tool is the “Remove duplicates” utility. No matter how careful you are, you’ll end up having duplicate songs in your iPod, especially if it’s a large one. Yamipod will find them by comparing ID tag data and file sizes, showing a list of possible candidates before actually deleting them.

Yamipod is certainly no serious competition for iTunes but still, it’s a very interesting option for those of us who own an iPod and need a simple, neat and easy-to-use file manager.

Download YamiPod 1.8 in Softonic

Download Anapod Explorer 9.0.6 in Softonic

iTunes party shuffle (now iTunes DJ) is a bit too random, which is why we've seen things like iTunes Genius and Mufin that try to create intelligent playlists. Random MixTape Maker is another attempt at helping you to utilize the forgotten depths of your music library.

It has no integration with any media player - you can create playlist files (.MPU) that most will recognize, or simply select and drag across the created playlists into your media player of choice. It synchronizes with whatever folders you tell it to (unfortunately it doesn't search for your music folders). Unlike Genius, Random MixTape Maker works by setting parameters - keywords, song lengths, genres etc. You can also put folders or files into a blacklist, if you don't want certain files to be selected by the program (for example news podcasts!).

Random MixTape Maker works very quickly. If you don't like its creations, clicking Create Playlist will instantly make a new one, or you can shuffle the current one. It fully supports dragging and dropping files, so it's easy to use. The downside of Random MixTape Maker is that you have to export the playlists to use them, although it's easy to drag playlists to your player. Also, some of the settings seemed only to be activated if the app was closed down and then opened. An "apply settings" button would be a great improvement.

Despite its basic appearance, Random MixTape Maker is a flexible, customizable way to freshen up your tired listening habits

Download Random MixTape Maker 1.8.28.77 in Softonic

Firstly, Jajuk is based on Java which I don't usually like but because the program does such a good organising job, it's worth tolerating the occasionally lags and sluggishness.

Jajuk is very flexible in that it can handle music in all sorts of formats including MP3, OGG Vorbis, AU, AIFF, WAV and SPEEX audio formats. The problem is that this is no simple organiser of music - it's very specialized and quite technical meaning that you'll spend a good few hours just getting to grips with its main features.

On the plus side, Jajuk is remarkably fast intuitive in the way it organises your music into different genres, bands and titles. I particularly liked the ambiance manager which allows you to make playlists based on genres of music to suit your moods. There's also a basic but functional DJ tool in Jajuk which includes a configurable crossfader for some super slick mixing and editing of your favorite tracks.

Jajuk is a very exciting alternative to iTunes although it's maybe a little too bloated with features for it's own good.

Download Jajuk 1.10.3 in Softonic

The first thing MediaMonkey does is ask to scan your drives for music. This is effective, and will really pull in any audio it finds. You can select the kind of audio files you want to use, which can stop MediaMonkey importing irrelevant audio. This is one of MediaMonkey's advantage over iTunes, as it's less reliant on its own library system. It is also compatible with many more formats. You can sync Media Monkey with devices such as iPhones and MP3 players.

For playback, MediaMonkey has all the usual tools, like equalizer and volume leveling. However, its layout takes a while to get used to, and it's not as easy to drop into as iTunes. The folder tree is comprehensive but ugly, and the tiny buttons in the toolbar are incomprehensible without trial and error testing.

MediaMonkey is a comprehensive audio management and playback device that's absolutely packed with features. However, it's looking old these days and really lacks a intuitive interface.

Download MediaMonkey Gold 4.0.7 in Softonic

If you're also annoyed by this ridiculous limitation, I have some good news: with MediaWidget - Easy iPod Transfer you can easily overcome it and transfer music to and from your computer without hassle.

MediaWidget - Easy iPod Transfer is quite simple to use. It features a well-structured interface with different areas for music, videos, photos and podcasts. There are also filters to display the content according to diverse criteria, as well as a built-in player to play any selected tracks.

The left-side toolbar in MediaWidget - Easy iPod Transfer includes buttons to copy selected data from the iPod to the computer and viceversa, and also direct access to a transfer wizard that makes the whole process even easier.

The only drawback to MediaWidget - Easy iPod Transfer is precisely its iPod connection. It took me a while to make the program "see" my iPod, and it only happened after downloading a missing DLL file from the web.

With MediaWidget - Easy iPod Transfer you can easily copy songs, videos, photos and podcasts from your iPod or iPhone to your computer.

Download MediaWidget - Easy iPod Transfer 6.0.63.1537 in Softonic